In order to capture Jiuligang within two days, the Japanese army concentrated all the infantry artillery and mortars of the six divisions. At 4 o'clock in the morning on September 22, they bombed the New Second Army's defense lines on both sides of Fangcun River for two full days. For more than an hour, it was not until eight o'clock that the sky became bright and the sun rose in the east, and the sound of cannons gradually became sparse. Knowing that the Japanese army was about to launch an attack, the officers and soldiers of the New Second Army who were hiding in the air raid shelters and tunnels immediately went to the position on the top of the mountain to defend. The position was filled with smoke. After the collapse of the communication trench, which was originally more than two meters deep, it only reached the waist of the officers and soldiers. After continuous bombing and artillery strikes by Japanese aircraft, all the fortifications on the surface of the position were severely damaged. Fortunately, large and small overlapping structures were damaged. Craters can serve as a new line of defense. Under the continuous bombardment of 500 kilogram-level aerial bombs, no matter how strong the fortress was, it was of no use. All bunkers and fortifications were destroyed. The air was filled with the stench of incendiary bombs dropped by Japanese aircraft and the smoke of gunpowder after the explosion of artillery shells. The rising sun can only be seen as a dark yellow outline in the thick smoke, and the whole world is like a dark hell. In front of the position, the barbed wire fences laid out by the soldiers of the New Second Army, the first and second trenches halfway up the mountain, and the machine gun bunkers made of reinforced concrete have long since disappeared. After the officers and soldiers entered the position on the top of the mountain, they looked down and were all shocked. The yellow figures of Japanese soldiers are everywhere at the foot of the mountain, like rolling waves of rice. From the foot of the mountain below to the mountain opposite, hundreds of infantry cannons were deployed one after another. The black barrels were raised high, and from time to time they would fire a shot towards the mountain here. In the sky, twenty or thirty planes were overwhelming, rushing towards the position. "Puff puff puff -" A 96 land attack plane passed by from the low altitude. Due to the smoke, the aircraft machine gun fired aimlessly. A series of bullets hit the position. Several soldiers who were waiting in the position fell in a pool of blood. middle. Then, the Japanese pilots, who were ignorant of all this, dropped bombs arrogantly. With the "boom" explosion, the smoke covering the top of the mountain became thicker and thicker. Jiuligang, which is cut in half by Fangcun River, is about 400 meters above sea level. It is a very steep valley with cliffs everywhere. However, with the continuous bombing and shelling, there are craters everywhere in the mountains. This is a great opportunity for the Japanese army. The attack provides convenience. It no longer has to be limited to a few points and lines, but can launch attacks in all directions. Two hundred meters, one hundred meters, eighty meters! The Japanese troops were like ants pressing up all over the mountains and plains. The light machine gunners accompanying the infantry attack straightened their backs and raised their guns to shoot at the top of the mountain while walking up. On such steep mountains, it was difficult for these machine gunners to find a suitable place to lie down and shoot, and their view was occasionally blocked by the Japanese soldiers in front, so they could only provide fire support in this way. Seventy meters, sixty meters! The officers and soldiers of the 1st Brigade of the Independent Division defending this highland have placed rows of grenades with unscrewed safety covers in front of them. Some soldiers have installed bayonets on their rifles in order to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese when the battle situation is unfavorable. Fifty-five meters, fifty meters! Under the cover of fire from the sky and the ground, about a thousand Japanese soldiers surged toward the top of Jiugang Mountain like a tide. The bayonets of the 38-guns they held in their hands sparkled in the sun. The Japanese army was getting closer and closer. Because they had suffered too many losses before, all the Japanese soldiers did not relax their vigilance. They carefully covered each other and moved forward. However, because the terrain was too steep, the Japanese attacking team seemed very dense. If they walked a little faster, the bayonet of the rifle in their hands might stab their companions, so they were a little confused for a while. Suddenly, a Japanese lieutenant who was leading the charge raised his hand and waved it forward vigorously. The Japanese army quickly accelerated and carried out the final charge. ¡°Shoot¡ª¡ª¡± ¡°Bang¡ª¡ª¡± At this moment, the Japanese lieutenant was shot in the forehead. He leaned up and fell on a Japanese soldier behind him, and then fell down the cliff with several Japanese soldiers. Almost in the blink of an eye, the top of the mountain was like a cauldron exploding. The officers and soldiers of the New Second Army threw the grenades they had prepared in rows at the Japanese. The officers and soldiers holding light and heavy machine guns and submachine guns banged their weapons. There was a loud noise, and the dense Japanese soldiers were like wheat harvested in summer, falling in pieces. For a time, ghosts were crying and wolves were howling, and flesh and blood were flying everywhere on the mountain and down the mountain. The most terrifying thing was the grenade. When one fell, all the Japs within a few meters were blown over. The grenades dropped by hundreds of riflemen from the Second Regiment exploded. Countless Japs flew into the sky in various weird postures, leaving behind them. It was extremely spectacular to crash down the mountain with the surrounding Japanese soldiers. As the battle started, the Japanese troops at the foot of the mountain quickly discovered the firepower points of the defenders on the mountain, immediately mobilized the Type 92 infantry artillery, and fired at the target indiscriminately. In front of the position on the top of the mountain, mud and gravel were flying everywhere.  Fortunately, the New Second Army was in a commanding position, and the artillery shells fired by the Japanese army from the foot of the mountain either flew over the heads of the officers and soldiers, or hit them in front of the position. Because some shells missed the target, the exploded rocks rolled down the slope, causing the Japanese soldiers who attacked from bottom to top to scream in agony and suffer heavy casualties. Several flamethrowers mixed in with the Japs' attack queue had their fuel tanks blown up by bullets fired from the top of the mountain. Balls of flames suddenly burst out in front of the position, wrapping the charging Japs soldiers in them, setting them on fire one by one. Shouting crazily and running around, some Japanese soldiers rolled around on the ground, and some jumped to the foot of the mountain. The Japanese attack formation was rushed by these firemen, and the formation was immediately in chaos. The Japanese soldiers who were following behind tried to avoid and retreat. Many of the Japanese soldiers lost their footing and fell down the mountain after giving in to each other. The battle lasted for more than two hours, and a regiment of Japanese soldiers finally retreated. However, before the officers and soldiers of the New Second Army on the mountain could take a breath, the Japanese troops who were already ready to go were like ants, sweeping toward the mountain. At this time, the Japanese troops no longer paid attention to their formations. They were like crawling insects in a cesspit, stepping on the corpses of Japanese soldiers all over the mountains and plains. Those Japanese fighter planes hovering at low altitude made noisy noises like flies above the heads of the new Second Army officers and soldiers. From time to time they broke through the black fog and swooped down to fire a string of bullets or drop bombs. After more than a month of continuous fighting, the New Second Army's air defense force has lost most of its air defense force. In order to ensure the continuity of the air defense artillery force and future operations, no air defense positions were deployed on Jiuligang Highlands, the last line of defense in front of Fangcun, so Japanese fighter planes were rampant. The battle was extremely fierce. The Japanese's offensive formation was extremely compact. The previous wave did not retreat and the other wave had rushed halfway up the mountain. Although the 1st Brigade of the Independent Division frequently dispatched troops and generals and sent troops to the top of the mountain as if to refuel, they continued to fight. The troops have been seriously depleted. Explosions of dust and thick smoke obscured the sky. Every few minutes, the Japanese artillery fired shells at the Jiuligang high ground. The smoke and dust dispersed by these shells shrouded the entire position in a sandstorm, making the defending officers and soldiers almost Can't see the sunlight coming in from outside. The smoke was billowing, and the sun in the blue sky was left with only a pale yellow halo. Sometimes it was even completely covered by the black smoke and no shadow could be seen. One can imagine the fierceness of the Japanese artillery fire, and the Japanese aircraft also flew from time to time. Diving and strafing, the officers and soldiers on the mountain suffered heavy casualties. The only good thing is that the officers and soldiers of the New Second Army were defending the top of the mountain, and the entire position was shrouded in tight smoke and dust, making the Japanese artillery fire and aircraft bombing and strafing all aimless and random. The battle lasted from the morning to four o'clock in the afternoon. The First Brigade of the Independent Division had sent troops to the front line eight times. All reserve teams had been sent up. Even the civilian soldiers had all picked up their weapons and were ready to fight at any time. On the mountaintop position, many officers and soldiers had entered the position since the morning. Faced with the endless battles of the Japanese army, many of them had not had a sip of water or a piece of dry food, and their stomachs were growling with hunger. After receiving the emergency report from the front line, Wu Ming, who was moving from Fangcun to Changting Ridge south of Maoliangwu, looked at the sky and said to Chief of Staff Dai Ziran: "It's almost time. I think we can have the troops withdraw into the tunnels." "Dai Ziran raised his wrist and looked at the time: "It is now a quarter past four in the afternoon, and there are still two hours until dark I think we should hold on until five o'clock, so that the Japanese army can check the terrain after they seize Fangcun. The time is only one hour. Fangcun is almost five kilometers away from the Dongkou Reservoir upstream. We have destroyed all the mountain roads along the way, so that they will not be able to discover this safety hazard. " "In such a short period of time, the Japanese army can only check. After confirming the situation around Fangcun is safe, we will move into Fangcun and several villages in the south We intend to leave barracks in these villages, and it will not be a problem to pretend to have 100,000 troops!" After thinking for a while, Wu Ming immediately agreed with Dai Ziran! At the suggestion, the 1st Brigade of the Independent Division was ordered to hold on for another forty-five minutes, and then all withdraw into the tunnel. The brutal battle continued, and the First Brigade of the Independent Division gritted its teeth and persisted. In the end, even the brigade commander, Colonel Wang Shuhuan, joined the battle, and finally repelled two more waves of Japanese fortifications. When five o'clock arrived, Brigadier Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief and gave the order to retreat. All the officers and soldiers on the position grabbed their weapons and ran towards the entrance of the tunnel in an orderly manner. A steady stream of Japanese troops rushed up the mountain and occupied the positions abandoned by the New Second Army. As the Japanese plaster flags were planted on the main peak, the entire mountain rang out with a huge roar. cheer. Lieutenant General Shinohara Seiichi, the commander of the 116th Division who had already been rotated several times and only took over the main offensive task this afternoon, was so satisfied that he immediately sent a victory message to Okamura Neiji in Quzhou. Of course, he deliberately concealed the fact that the defenders took the initiative. The fact of retreating to the tunnel. In his opinion, all he needs to do is block the remnants of the New Second Army in caves and not hinder the main attack. In the end, they will all starve to death.??Some ground mice. Okamura Neji was very happy when he received the telegram. With the victory of capturing Jiuligang, it means that the passage for the Japanese army to enter Fangcun has been completely opened. As long as Fangcun is captured, they will have the most solid base point to attack Maoliangwu. Moreover, with the capture of Jiuligang, the highlands on both sides of Fangcun Creek were controlled by the Japanese army. In this way, Fangcun Creek and the roads on both sides could pass with confidence, and heavy artillery, food, and ammunition materials could be transported directly to Fangcun. The next step was to attack Maoliangwu. There is a guarantee. Subsequently, Okamura Neiji ordered the 116th Division to seize Fangcun as quickly as possible. At the same time, other divisions quickly followed up, striving to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the New Second Army retreating to Maoliangwu to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop and gain a decisive victory. victory. Under the shining of the setting sun, the Japanese 116th Division dispatched two regiments to sweep Jiehu Village, Shibidi Village, Tongsangang Village, and Xinfu Village one after another, and launched a general attack on Fangcun before dark. The officers and soldiers of a regiment of the Independent Division of the New Second Army who stayed behind in Fangcun retreated to Dongbei Mountain, which is more than 300 meters above sea level in the north, after a brief resistance. The commander of the 116th Division, Shinohara Seiichi, was an experienced veteran. He immediately ordered the troops to occupy Zhanwu and Waidashan from the northeast, rush to repair fortifications, and beware of threats from the direction of Maoliangwu. The northwest side controlled Dawukeng, The line between Shizitou and Kaihua Mountain ensures the safety of the villages south of Fangcun. After that, the Japanese army followed the highways on both sides of the Fangcun River and entered the villages south of Fangcun. By four o'clock the next morning, more than 100,000 Japanese troops from six divisions were packed into the line from Fangcun to Jiehu Village. This was still The strength of the Japanese army was severely reduced after continuous hard battles. Everything is ready, just waiting for the east wind!